Despite rough and windy weather, some anglers have caught snapper in Corio Bay, both from the inner and outer harbors; among them Daniel Johnson, who – along with different companions – has caught snapper on each of his last five trips.
Fishing along the west side of the Wilson Spit with Brodie Bell on Saturday, it took three bites at the cherry for Brodie to boat a snapper; the first two simply mangling the silver whiting he had on for bait before it was third time lucky with no mistake this time on a snapper weighing 5 kg.
Out again on Sunday, this time with Dennis O’Brien and his son Daniel, Andrew reports fishing was slow, but at 11.50 am he caught their only fish for the day weighing 5.5 kg.
Land based anglers have also picked up a snapper or two as Johnny Raft reports after fishing the inside of the Portarlington breakwater near the ferry terminal. He didn’t get a bite, but witnessed the capture of a 5.2 kg snapper by an angler nearby who was also fishing inside the harbour.
Rod Ludlow of Beachlea Boat Hire at Indented Head reports that a large number of small barracouta have appeared off Indented Head lately, but flathead – and squid in particular – remain the main catch.
Among those to do well on the squid on Saturday morning were Andrew Phillips and Tony Grech who – along with a good many others – found some shelter from the strong westerly winds in front of the St Leonards Yacht Club where they had no trouble taking bag limit catches with several of their bigger specimens around the kilogram mark.
Offshore
Snapper are to be caught offshore for those able to pick a break in our unsettled weather; something that Aaron Habgood of Red’s Fishing Adventures could relate having consistently caught snapper to 5 kg or so – along with the occasional good size gummy or school shark – in around 40 metres of water off Barwon Heads.
Freshwater
On Sunday, Simon Werner fished Wurdiboluc Reservoir with daughter Kassidy for a brown and rainbow trout, each around the kilogram mark; one being taken on a mudeye suspended under a bubble float, the other being taken on a white metal spoon.
John Clements of the Lake Purrumbete Holiday Park reports that several large brown trout were taken from the lake, including a couple over the 4 kg mark caught by Danny Torgensen and his mate “Bettsy”.
John also fished the lake, his best fish being a 48 cm, 1.5 kg redfin that took a Rapala F5 on the troll. Others to do well on Lake Purrumbete included Andrew Robinson of Altona who caught redfin to a kilogram using scrubworms and minnow for bait.
At nearby Lake Bullen Merri, Camperdown rod builder Ken Carman continues to enjoy success on chinook salmon to 1.5 kg and better while fishing land based with soft plastics.
Trevor Holmes of Victorian Inland Charters fished Lake Toolondo with cousin Rod Rees over the weekend; Rod’s 2 kg brown trout being the pick of their catch. It took a Fish Arrow J Shad being retrieved across the shallows. Rod also landed a respectable rainbow while trolling a Daiwa double clutch while Trevor’s catch included a 42 cm redfin.
Abdul asks:
Geoff, where is Laker’s cutting? I’ve heard it’s a great place to catch bream, but nobody seems to know where it is.
Abdul, Laker’s shellgrit cutting may be reached by turning left at Fellows Road from the Bellarine Highway just before you reach Queenscliff. It’s just a bit further along from the Portarlington Road turn-off.
After crossing the railway line on Fellows Road, you will come to a large drain that runs under the road, from which you can fish either side, or – having passed the drain – you can walk down toward Swan Bay taking care not cross the fence onto private property.
To access the eastern part of Laker’s cutting, you will have to continue along Fellows Road, following it around to the right where it becomes McDonald Road. Parking your car at the end, you can wade down through the swamp to the water’s edge; another good area to fish.